Method of and apparatus for feeding cut tobacco in a machine for making tobacco products



June 15, 1965 D. w. MOLINS 3,189,034

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CUT TOBACCO IN A MACHINE FOR MAKING TOBACCO PRODUCTS Filed March 20. 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1' June 15, 1965 D. w. MOLINS 3,189,034

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CUT TOBACCO IN A MACHINE FOR MAKING TOBACCO PRODUCTS Filed March 20, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVE UT! 1 June 15, 1965 D. w. MOLINS 3,189,034

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CUT TOBACCO IN A MACHINE FOR MAKING TOBACCO PRODUCTS Filed March 20, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 cm TOBACCO FIG. 4

' UNUSABLE STEM STEM 7 STEM A STEM g IL SEPARATION PROCESSING MEANS SHORTS USABLE V 73 STEM V 332, PROCESSED STREAM SEPARATE STEM FEEDING MEANS United States Patent 3,189,034 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CUT TOBACCO IN A MACHINE FOR MAKING TOBACCO PRODUCTS Desmond Walter Molins, Deptt'ord, London, England, as-

signor to Molins Machine Company Limited, Deptford, London, England, a British company Filed Mar. 20, 1963, Ser. No. 266,620 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 28, 1962,

7 Claims. (Cl. 131-84) This invention concerns improvements in or relating to a method of and apparatus for feeding cut tobacco in a tobacco, manipulating machine, for example a continuous rod cigarette-making machine.

In the manufacture of tobacco products, such as for example cigarettes, whole tobacco leaves consisting of lamina portion and stem may be cut so that the cut tobacco is a mixture of cut lamina and cut stem. How ever, such a mixture is not usually suitable for incorporating into tobacco articles since some of the pieces of the stem are too large. In cigarettes, for instance, Such large pieces usually do not burn and may pierce the enveloping cigarette paper. Such pieces are referred to herein as unusable stem, whereas pieces of stem that can be incorporated without detriment to the smoker or to the tobacco article are referred to as usable stem. Unusable stem can be converted to usable stem by suitable processing. In the manufacture of cigarettes on a continuous rod cigarette-making machine, it has been proposed to supply cut tobacco containing unusable stem to the hopper of the machine and to separate the unusable stem during the feeding process in the machine for removal and conversion to usable stem, the latter being returned to the hopper.

Further, cut tobacco normally contains a considerable proportion of short tobacco shreds, often referred to as shorts, and there is sometimesa tendency for the shorts to become irregularly distributed in the cut tobacco. For example, in a continuous rod cigarette-making machine shorts sometimes tend to accumulate at certain positions in the hopper, and, by falling through the bottom of the hopper, some shorts can become separated from the remainder of the cut tobacco contained therein, the separated shorts sometimes being returned to the hopper. Owing to irregular distribution of shorts, some portions along the length of the tobacco filler may contain more shorts than do other portions, and this may in some cases contribute to irregularity in weight of the cigarette produced, because a given weight of shorts will generally occupy a smaller volume than does an equal weight of long tobacco.

The hopper mechanism of a continuous rod cigarettemaking machine normally comprises a carded drum and a picker roller, and shorts and processed stem are often.

prone to undesirable breakage when subjected to carding and picking operations.

According to the present invention there is provided a method of feeding cut tobacco in a tobacco manipulating machine, comprising the steps of transporting selected cut tobacco from main feeding means in a main supply stream towards means for forming a tobacco filler, feeding shorts which become separated from out tobacco fed by the said main feeding means to separate feeding means, separating stem from cut tobacco fed by the said main feeding means, separating usable stem from unusable stem, feeding the usable stem to the said separate feeding means, processing the unusable stem to convert it into usable processed stem, feeding usable processed stem to the said separate feeding means, and feeding 'ice shorts, usable stem and processed stern together from the said separate feeding means into the main supply stream.

Tobacco may be fed from the main feeding means into an airstream, tobacco from the separate feeding means also being fed into the airstream, and the tobacco in the airstream being transported towards the'means for forming a tobacco filler.

Further according to the invention there is provided apparatus for feeding cut tobacco in a tobacco manipulating machine, comprising main feeding means to feed cut tobacco, means to transport selected cut tobacco from the main feeding means in a main supply stream, separate feeding means to feed shorts, usable stem and processed stem together into the main supply stream, means to guide shorts which become separated from cut tobacco fed by the said main feeding means to the said separate feeding means, means to separate stem from out tobacco fed by the said main feeding means, means to separate usable stem from unusable stem and to deliver the usable stem to the said separate feeding means, and means to deliver processed stem, which has been processed to convert it from unusable stem to usable processed stem, to the said separate feeding means.

The invention providesfurther apparatus for feeding cut tobacco in a continuous rod cigarette-making machine I having a trimming device to trim excess tobacco from one side of a tobacco filler stream, comprising main feeding means to feed cut tobacco, means to pneumatically transport selected cut tobacco from the main feeding means in a main supply stream in which the particles are generally spaced from each other, means to receive tobacco from the said main supply stream to form said tobacco filler stream, separate feeding means to feed further selected tobacco directly into the said main supply stream so that it is mixed and pneumatically transported together with the said selected cut tobacco in the main supply stream, and means to guide the said further selected tobacco so that it is fed into a desired part of the said main supply stream such that it becomes concentrated on that side of the filler stream remote from the said one side.

The invention also provides a method of feeding cut tobacco in a continuous rod cigarette making machine in which excess tobacco is trimmed from one'side of a tobacco filler stream, comprising the steps of feeding selected cut tobacco from main feeding means; into an airstream, transporting said selected cut tobacco as generally spaced particles by the said airstream towards means for forming the tobacco filler stream, and feeding further selected tobacco from separate feeding means directly into a desired part of the said airstream so that the said further selected tobacco is transported together with the said selected cut tobacco by the airstream and becomes concentrated on that side of the filler stream re mote from the said one side.

Further according to the invention there is provided in a continuous rod cigarette-making machine tobaccofeeding apparatus comprising means to produce a main airstream which can transport cut tobacco in a main supply stream, a hopper to which cut tobacco is supplied, a movable conveyor and means to move the conveyor along a conveying run, means to guide shorts which become 1 separated from cut tobacco contained in the hopper on for conversion into usable processed stem, means to feed such processed usable stem on to the said conveyor, and means to produce an airstream into which tobacco is received on the said conveyor is fed to be carried into the said main airstream for inclusion in the said main supply stream. The apparatus may comprise means to vibrate the conveyor along at least part of its conveying run.

Apparatus according to the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a section through tobacco feeding apparatus in a continuous rod cigarette-making machine,

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line II-II of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of part of a sieve,

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic representation of a method of feeding tobacco.

Referring to FIGURE 1, cut tobacco consisting of a mixture of cut lamina and cut stem is supplied to a hopper indicated generally by the reference 1. A carded drum 2 is rotated in the direction of the arrow and delivers the tobacco in the form of a carpet past combs 3 to a position at which a picker roller 4 strips the carpet from the carding, the drum 2 and roller 4 constituting main feeding means for the cut tobacco. The tobacco is fed by the picker roller 4 along a shaped plate 5 to be engaged by a winnower 6 rotating in the direction of the arrow. The winnower 6 impels the tobacco into the path of a main airstream, the air being drawn through holes 7 in a plate 8 and up a channel 9 in a manner as described in co-pending application Serial No. 264,951 filed March 13, 1963, now abandoned, the airstream being produced by means of a suction chamber 100 which draws air through a moving perforated belt 101 travelling across the top of the channel 9. Some air is also drawn from the channel 9 through a grille 102 in the side of the channel in a manner as described in the above mentioned application. Air is also directed through a rotating perforated cylinder 10 with an associated duct 10a to cause selected relatively light tobacco to change its direction of movement and to be carried by the air in a main supply stream up the channel 9. Heavier tobacco particles are impelled across the path of the airstream on account of their greater momentum, and thus the remainder of the tobacco, which includes stem, is delivered into a trap 11 formed between walls 12 and 13.

Tobacco is discharged from the trap 11 by means of a steel roll 14 and a rubber covered roll 15, which form an air lock, into a passage 16. The passage 16 is defined by walls 17 and 18 and a rising airstream is drawn through it via grilles 19 and 20 at the bottom of walls 17 and 18 respectively. Thus further light tobacco is carried by the rising airstream up the passage to join the main supply stream at the bottom of channel 9, while heavier stem pieces fall down the passage 16 to be received on an endless movable conveyor band 21 provided with paddles 22.

The band 21 passes about rollers 21a and 21b, and is positioned inside a casing 23 provided with a sieve 24 and an opening 25 leading into a pipe 26. The sieve 24 is shown in plan view in FIGURE 3 and is constructed so that small pieces of suitable stem can fall therethrough but so that larger pieces of unusable stem are prevented from doing so. The band 21 is moved in the direction shown by the arrow on the driven roller 21a, and tobacco received thereon is pushed by the paddles 22 over the sieve 24, through which small pieces of usable stem drop, larger pieces of unusable stem being further conveyed through the opening 25 and into the pipe 26.

The sieve 24 is positioned so that tobacco falling therethrough is guided on to a conveyor in the form of an endless band 27 passing about rollers 28 and 29, of which the roller 28 is driven. The band 27 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow of rotation on the roller 28, and has an upper run extending from a position beneath the hopper 1 and behind the carded drum 2 (considered in the direction of movement of the band 27). An electric vibrator 30 is provided to vibrate the band along part of its upper run. 7

Positioned above the band 27, at the right hand side as viewed in FIGURE 1, is an endless fluted band 31, passing about a driven roller 32 and a roller 33, and moved in the direction indicated by the arrow. Unusable stem collected in the pipe 26 is conveyed therefrom by the action of suction therethrough to be processed for conversion to usable processed stem. The stem is processed by any suitable processing means, for example by rolling and cutting in a manner as described in copending U.S. patent application Serial No. 245,576, filed December 18, 1962. The stem so converted isfed into a small hopper formed between end walls 34 and side walls 35 of which the band 31 forms a moving base. It is then delivered by the band 31 on to the conveyor band 27, a refuser roller 36 being provided to restrict the amount of stem being fed. It will be appreciated that the amount of stem fed to the band 27 can be regulated by adjustment of the speed of the band 31 and, if desired, by a change in the depth of the flutes thereon.

After the band 27 passes beneath the band 31 it travels under the carded drum 2. At either side and extending under the drum 2 are shaped plates 37 and 38. Between the plate 38 and the drum 2, at a position indicated generally by the reference S, shorts from the cut tobacco in the hopper 1 accumulate in a known manner. These shorts then fall between the drum 2 and the plate 38, moving down the latter to be guided on to the conveyor band 27. Further shorts, which are not removed from the drum 2 by the picker roller 4, pass between the drum 2 and the plate 37, also in a known manner, to be guided by the latter on to the conveyor band 27. In this way, shorts which become separated from cut tobacco fed by the main feeding means, are guided on to the band 27.

The band 27 then passes beneath the sieve 24 and receives small pieces of usable stem as previously described. The vibrator 30 causes the band 27 to vibrate along part of its conveying run and acts to redistribute tobacco received thereon.

Immediately above the roller 28 is positioned a rotatable rubber covered roll 39 which coacts with the roller 28 and band 27 to discharge tobacco from the latter into a channel 40 formed between walls 41 and 42. The roll 39 and roller 28 form an air lock in the same manner as the rolls 14 and 15. An airstream drawn (by means of the suction chamber through an open lower end 43 of the channel 40 carries tobacco discharged from the band 27 up the channel 40 into the main airstream, so that the tobacco is fed into the main supply stream at the bottom of channel 9.

The conveyor band 27 thus constitutes separate feeding means to feed usable stem, shorts and processed stem into the main supply stream. By the provision of such separate feeding means processed stem, which is some times prone to breakage when subjected to carding and picking operations, can be fed into the main supply stream without passing through the main feeding means, and thus without being subjected to such operations. Similarly shorts, which are also sometimes prone to breakage, can be fed into the main supply stream with- .out being recirculated through the hopper.

The tobacco feeding method described above is shown diagrammatically in FIGURE 4. This shows cut tobacco fed to the main feeding means from which selected cut tobacco is transported in a main supply stream. Shorts, which become separate from the cut tobacco fed by the main feeding means are fed to the separate feeding means. Stem which is separated from the cut tobacco fed by the main feeding means is fed to stem separating means, which separates unusable stem from usable stem, the latter being fed to the separate feeding means. The unusable stem is removed for processing to usable stem, and the stem thus processed is delivered to the separate feeding means. Shorts, usable stem and processed stem are fed together from the separate feeding means into the main supply stream.

The main supply stream of tobacco, containing cut lamina and usable stem as well as shorts and processed stem, is conveyed. by. the main airstream up the channel 9 to be received on the moving perforated conveyor belt 101 through which suction is applied to draw air through the channels, 9, 16 and 40, and on which a filler stream is built up and conveyed, in a manneras described in US. patent specification No. 3,030,966 dated April 24, 1962. A trimming device 103 then acts on the filler stream to remove excess tobacco from one side thereof and produce a filler, the said excess tobacco being returned to the hopper 1 for recirculation through the feeding mechanism, as also described in the above mentioned specification.

The band 27, which moves in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the filler stream, extends in Width along substantially the length of the channel 9 (i.e. the dimension of the channel 9 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper of FIGURE 1). Thus the band 27 extends in width along substantially the length of the position at which the filler stream is built up.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, the fluted band 31 extends in width across only part (approximately three quarters) of the width of the band 27. Thus tobacco fed from the fluted band 31 on to the band 27 is spread from one side across approximately three quarters of the latter. Beneath the carded drum 2 is provided a sloping guide plate 44 which provides a cover for approximately one quarter of the width of the band 27 which passes under it. Thus shorts delivered from the plates 37 and 38 on to the band 27 are similarly received across approximately three quarters of the width of the latter. An extension 45 of the guide plate 44, running parallel to the direction of movement of the band 27 and positioned approximately a quarter of the way across its width assists in keeping the shorts and processed stem on the required side of the band 27 (see also FIGURE 1). The side of the band 27 on which the shorts and processed stem are received (i.e. the right hand side as viewed in FIGURE 2) corresponds to that part of the channel 9 at which tobacco is first received .on the perforated conveyor belt 101. Thus the shorts and processed stem are transported from the band 27 through the channel 40 and into the channel 9, and received on the perforated conveyor belt in such a way that they become covered by further tobacco during the building up of the filler stream, i.e. so that they are concentrated on that side of the stream remote from the side on which the trimming device acts. The purpose of this arrangement is to avoid the removal of shorts and processed stem from the filler stream by the trimming device and their consequent recirculation through the feeding mechanism, as such recirculation might cause undesirable breakage of the tobacco. The small pieces of usable stem which fall through the sieve 24 are received across approximately the entire width of the band 27. The speed of the band 27 can be arranged to give a desired distribution of tobaccothereon, (i.e. a desired amount of tobacco per unit surface area of the band). Preferably the arrangement is such that the particles of tobacco are distributed somewhat sparsely over the band 27 and do not, at least to any considerable extent, lie on each other.

It will be appreciated that, by the arrangement described, for a given rate of feed of tobacco to the filler stream, the rate of feed of tobacco from the hopper 1 is less than would be required if the shorts and processed 6 stem were returned thereto instead of being fed to the filler stream without passing through the hopper a second time. Such decreased rate of hopper feed is believed to cause less breakage of the tobacco fed thereby.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of feeding cut tobacco in a tobacco manip ulating machine, comprising the steps of transporting selected cut tobacco from main feeding means in a main supply stream towards means for forming a tobacco fill er, feeding shorts which become separated from out tobacco fed by the said main feeding means to separate feeding means, separating stem from cut tobacco fed by the said main feeding means, separating usable stem from unusable stern, feeding the usable stem to the said separate feeding means, processing the unusable stem to convert it into usable processed stem, feedingusable processed stem to the said separate feeding means, and feeding shorts, usable stem and processed stem together from the said separate feeding means into the main supply stream.

2. A method of feeding cut tobacco in a tobacco manip= ulating machine, comprising the steps of feeding selected cut tobacco from main feeding means into an airstream, feeding shorts which become separated from cut tobacco fed by the said main feeding means to separate feeding means, separating stem from out tobacco fed by the said main feeding means, separating usable stem from unusable stem, feeding the usable stem to the said separate feeding means, processing the unusable stem to convert it to usable processed stem, feeding usable processed stem to the said eparate feeding means, feeding shorts, usable stern and processed stem together from the said separate feeding means into the said airstream, and transporting tobacco in the said airstream towards means for forming a tobacco filler.

3. Apparatus for feeding cut tobacco in a tobacco manipulating machine, comprising main feeding means to feed cut tobacco, means to transport selected cut tobacco from the main feeding means in a main supply stream, separate feeding means to feed shorts, usable stem and processed stern together into the main supply stream, means to guide shorts which become separated from out tobacco fed by the said main feeding means to the said separate feeding means, means to separate stem from out tobacco fed by the said main feeding means, means to separate usable tem from unusable stem and to deliver the usable stem to the said separate feeding means, and means to deliver processed stem, which has been processed to convert it from unusable stem to usable proc essed stem, to the said separate feeding means.

4. Apparatus for feeding cut tobacco in a continuous rod cigarette-making machine having a trimming device to trim excess tobacco from one side of a tobacco filler stream, comprising main feeding means to feed cut tobacco, means to pneumatically transport selected cut tobacco from the main feeding means in a main supply stream in which the particles are generally spaced from each other, means to receive tobacco from the said mainsupply streams to form said tobacco filler stream, separate feeding means to feed further selected tobacco directly into the said main supply stream so that it is mixed and pneumatically transported together with the said selected cut tobacco in the main supply stream, and means to guide the said further selected tobacco so that it is fed into a desired part of the said main supply stream such that it becomes concentrated on that side of the filler stream remote from the said one side.

*5. In a continuous rod cigarette making machine tobacco-feeding apparatus comprising means to produce a main airstream which can transport cut tobacco in a main supply stream, a hopper to which cut tobacco is supplied, a movable conveyor and means to move the conveyor along a conveying run, means to guide shorts which become separated from cut tobacco contained in the hopper on to the said conveyor, impelling means to impel cut tobacco fed from the hopper across the path of the said main airstream so that some tobacco is carried away by the airstream while stem is impelled across the airstream, sieving means to receive the stem and to separate therefrom usable stem, the said usable stern being received on the said conveyor, means to transport unusable stem from the sieving means so that it can be removed for conversion into usable processed stem, means to feed such processed usable stem on to the said conveyor, and means to produce an airstream into which tobacco received on the said conveyor is fed to be carried into the said main airstream for inclusion in the said main supply stream.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, comprising means to vibrate the conveyor along at least part of its conveying run.

7. A method of feeding cut tobacco in a continuous rod cigarette making machine in which excess tobacco is trimmed from one side of a tobacco filler stream, comprising the steps of feeding selected cut tobacco from main feeding means into an airstream, transporting said selected cut tobacco as generally spaced particles by the said airstream towards means for forming the tobacco filler stream, and feeding further selected tobacco from 25 SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner.

separate feeding means directly into a desired part of the said airstream so that the said further selected tobacco is transported together with the said selected cut tobacco by the airstream and becomes concentrated on that side of the filler stream remote from the said one side.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,239,858 4/41 Randolph 131-109 2,467,248 4/49 Arelt 131-1 10 X 2,634,171 4/53 Williams 131110 X 2,795,229 6/57 Dearsley 131110 X 3,030,966 4/62 Lanore 131-84 3,092,117 6/63 Labbe 131-110 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,248,179 10/ 60 France.

475,608 11/37 Great Britain.

880,850 10/61 Great Britain.

111,559 3/62 Pakistan.

OTHER REFERENCES Korber: German application 1,125,826, printed Mar. 15, 1962 (KL 7913 10 10). 

1. A METHOD OF FEEDING CUT TOBACCO IN A TOBACCO MANIPULATING MACHINE, COMPRISING THE STEPS OF TRANSPORTING SELECTED CUT TOBACCO FROM MAIN FEEDING MEANS IN A MAIN SUPPLY STREAM TOWARDS MEANS FOR FORMING A TOBACCO FILLER, FEEDING SHORTS WHICH BECOME SEPARATED FROM CUT TOBACCO FED BY THE SAID MAIN FEEDING MEANS TO SEPARATE FEEDING MEANS, SEPARATING STEM FROM CUT TOBACCO FED BY THE SAID MAIN FEEDING MEANS, SEPARATING UNSABLE STEM FROM UNUSABLE STEM, FEEDING THE USABLE STEM TO THE SAID SEPARATE FEEDING MEANS, PROCESSING THE UNUSABLE STEM TO CONVERT IT INTO USABLE PROCESSED STEM, FEEDING USABLE PROCESSED STEM TO THE SAID SEPARATE FEEDING MEANS, AND FEED- 